Diabetes mellitus is a disease characterized by hyperglycemia; altered metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates and proteins; and an increased risk of complications from vascular disease. Diabetes is an increasing public health problem, as it is associated with both increasing age and obesity.
There are two major types of diabetes mellitus: 1) Type I, also known as insulin dependent diabetes (IDDM) and 2) Type II, also known as insulin independent or non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM). Both types of diabetes mellitus are due to insufficient amounts of circulating insulin and a decrease in the response of peripheral tissue to insulin.
Type I diabetes results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that “unlocks” the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. The complications of Type I diabetes include heart disease and stroke; retinopathy (eye disease); kidney disease (nephropathy); neuropathy (nerve damage); as well as maintenance of good skin, foot and oral health.
Type II diabetes results from the body's inability to either produce enough insulin or the cells inability to use the insulin that is naturally produced by the body. The condition where the body is not able to optimally use insulin is called insulin resistance. Type II diabetes is often accompanied by high blood pressure and this may contribute to heart disease. In patients with type II diabetes mellitus, stress, infection, and medications such as corticosteroids) can also lead to severely elevated blood sugar levels. Accompanied by dehydration, severe blood sugar elevation in patients with type II diabetes can lead to an increase in blood osmolality (hyperosmolar state). This condition can lead to coma.
Insulin lowers the concentration of glucose in the blood by stimulating the uptake and metabolism of glucose by muscle and adipose tissue. Insulin stimulates the storage of glucose in the liver as glycogen, and in adipose tissue as triglycerides. Insulin also promotes the utilization of glucose in muscle for energy. Thus, insufficient insulin levels in the blood, or decreased sensitivity to insulin, gives rise to excessively high levels of glucose and triglycerides in the blood.
The early symptoms of untreated diabetes mellitus are related to elevated blood sugar levels, and loss of glucose in the urine. High amounts of glucose in the urine can cause increased urine output and lead to dehydration. Dehydration causes increased thirst and water consumption. The inability to utilize glucose energy eventually leads to weight loss despite an increase in appetite. Some untreated diabetes patients also complain of fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. Patients with diabetes are prone to developing infections of the bladder, skin, and vaginal areas. Fluctuations in blood glucose levels can lead to blurred vision. Extremely elevated glucose levels can lead to lethargy and coma (diabetic coma).
People with glucose levels between normal and diabetic have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). This condition is also called pre-diabetes or insulin resistance syndrome. People with IGT do not have diabetes, but rather have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Their bodies make more and more insulin, but because the tissues don't respond to it, their bodies can't use sugar properly. Recent studies have shown that IGT itself may be a risk factor for the development of heart disease. It is estimated that people with pre-diabetes have a 1.5-fold risk of cardiovascular disease compared to people with normal blood glucose. People with diabetes have a 2- to 4-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
High blood levels of glucose and triglycerides cause the thickening of capillary basement membrane, which results in the progressive narrowing of vessel lumina. The vasculopathologies give rise to conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, which may result in blindness, coronary heart disease, intercapillary glomerulosclerosis, neuropathy, and ulceration and gangrene of the extremities.
The toxic effects of excess plasma levels of glucose include the glycosylation of cells and tissues. Glycosylated products accumulate in tissues and may eventually form cross-linked proteins, which cross-linked proteins are termed advanced glycosylation end products. It is possible that non-enzymatic glycosylation is directly responsible for expansion of the vascular matrix and vascular complications of diabetes. For example, glycosylation of collagen results in excessive cross-linking, resulting in atherosclerotic vessels. Also, the uptake of glycosylated proteins by macrophages stimulates the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines by these cells. The cytokines activate or induce degradative and proliferative cascades in mesenchymal and endothelial cells respectively.
The glycosylation of hemoglobin provides a convenient method to determine an integrated index of the glycemic state. The level of glycosylated proteins reflects the level of glucose over a period of time and is the basis of an assay referred to as the hemoglobin A1 (HbA1c) assay.
HbA1c reflects a weighted average of blood glucose levels during the previous 120 days; plasma glucose in the previous 30 days contributes about 50% to the final result in an HbA1c assay. The test for A1c (also known as HbA1c, glycohemoglobin, or glycated hemoglobin) indicates how well diabetes has been controlled over the last few months. The closer A1c is to 6%, the better the control of diabetes. For every 30 mg/dl increase in A1c blood glucose, there is a 1% increase in A1c, and the risk of complications increases.
Another explanation for the toxic effects of hyperglycemia includes sorbitol formation. Intracellular glucose is reduced to its corresponding sugar alcohol, sorbitol, by the enzyme aldose reductase; the rate of production of sorbitol is determined by the ambient glucose concentration. Thus, tissues such as lens, retina, arterial wall and Schwann cells of peripheral nerves have high concentrations of sorbitol.
Hyperglycemia also impairs the function of neural tissues because glucose competes with myoinositol resulting in reduction of cellular concentrations and, consequently, altered nerve function and neuropathy.
Increased triglyceride levels are also a consequence of insulin deficiency. High triglyceride levels are also associated with vascular disease.
Thus, controlling blood glucose and triglyceride levels is a desirable therapeutic goal. A number of oral antihyperglycemic agents are known. Medications that increase the insulin output by the pancreas include sulfonylureas (including chlorpropamide [Orinase®], tolbutamide [Tolinase®], glyburide [Micronase®], glipizide [Glucotrol®], and glimepiride [Amaryl®]) and meglitinides (including reparglinide [Prandin®] and nateglinide [Starlix®]). Medications that decrease the amount of glucose produced by the liver include biguanides (including metformin [Glucophage®]). Medications that increase the sensitivity of cells to insulin include thazolidinediones (including troglitazone [Resulin®], pioglitazone [Actos®] and rosiglitazone [Avandia®]). Medications that decrease the absorption of carbohydrates from the intestine include alpha glucosidase inhibitors (including acarbose [Precose®] and miglitol [Glyset®]). Pioglitazone and rosiglitazone can change the cholesterol patterns in diabetics. HDL (or good cholesterol) increases on these medications. Acarbose works on the intestine; its effects are additive to diabetic medications that work at other sites, such as sulfonylureas. ACE inhibitors can be used to control high blood pressure, treat heart failure, and prevent kidney damage in people with hypertension or diabetes. ACE inhibitors or combination products of an ACE inhibitor and a diuretic, such as hydrochlorothazide, are marketed. However, none of these treatments is ideal because they pose short term treatments with many side-effects.
Blood pressure control can reduce cardiovascular disease (for example, myocardial infarction and stroke) by approximately 33% to 50% and can reduce microvascular disease (eye, kidney, and nerve disease) by approximately 33%. The Center for Disease Control has found that for every 10 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) reduction in systolic blood pressure, the risk for any complication related to diabetes is reduced by 12%. Improved control of cholesterol and lipids (for example HDL, LDL, and triglycerides) can reduce cardiovascular complications by 20% to 50%.
In a healthy human, total cholesterol should be less than 200 mg/dl. Target levels for high density lipoprotein (HDL or “good” cholesterol) are above 45 mg/dl for men and above 55 mg/dl for women, while low density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad” cholesterol) should be kept below 100 mg/dl. Target triglyceride levels for women and men are less than 150 mg/dl.
Approximately 50% of patients with diabetes develop some degree of diabetic retinopathy after 10 years of diabetes, and 80% of diabetics have retinopathy after 15 years.
In a study (the DCCT study) conducted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) it was shown that keeping blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible slows the onset and progression of eye, kidney, and nerve diseases caused by diabetes.
In the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) clinical trial type 2 diabetics were studied. The DPP study found that over the 3 years of the study, diet and exercise sharply reduced the chances that a person with IGT would develop diabetes. Administration of metformin (Glucophage®) also reduced risk, although less dramatically.
The DCCT study showed a correlation between HbA1c and the mean blood glucose. The DPP study showed that HbA1c is strongly correlated with adverse outcome risk.
In a series of reports from the American Heart Association's Prevention Conference VI: Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease it was reported that about two-thirds of people with diabetes eventually die of heart or blood vessel disease. Studies also showed that the increase in cardiovascular disease risk associated with diabetes can be lessened by controlling individual risk factors such as obesity, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
It is important for a person suffering from diabetes to reduce the risk of complications such as cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. It is also important for diabetics to reduce total cholesterol and triglyceride levels to reduce cardiovascular complications. Reduction of these possible complication risks is also important for a person suffering from IGT (a pre-diabetic).
Thus, if blood glucose levels can be controlled, the risk of complications such as cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy can be reduced or their onset delayed. If total cholesterol and triglyceride levels can be reduced, then cardiovascular complications can be reduced.
Citation or identification of any reference in Section 2, or in any other section of this application, shall not be considered an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention.